Gorgon's head
Gorgon's head on a silver coin of Naples
permission to use image granted
F11: CLA227, Greek Civilization:
Topics for Paper 5
Apollo's head
The god Apollo on a gold coin of Syracuse
image courtesy of Edgar L. Owen, #3803


Directions:
  • electronic copy: e-mail me at victor.leuci@westminster-mo.edu); the name of your attached file should be:
  • F11-227-P5-Last Name, First Name  (e.g. F11-227-P5-Smith, Joan)
  • paper copy: bring to class
  • length: 600-1000ish
  • sources:
  • see below as each topic specifies what the source material will be
  • In-text Citing reminders:
  • you must cite your sources of information (facts, theories, etc)
  • every main body paragraph needs multiple in-text citations because every main body paragraph need concrete pieces of information to support what you say
  • for Plato's Apology, just give the page number in parentheses once you've specified that your source material is from the Apology.
  • for the stories in Kebric's book give the usual, i.e. Kebric and page number(s).
  • Works Cited "Page" reminders:
  • at beginning of paper followed by a space or so, then the main text of your paper.
  • make sure the entries are in the same font and same size as your main text
  • make sure that you use hanging indents
  • for the Apology, the entry should be: Plato. Apology. Transl. Benjamin Jowett. In Plato: The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues. New York: Dover Thrift Editions. 1992. Print.
  • writing intensive:
  • don't forget to turn in the draft copy with my or the Writing labs' comments on it for it to count towards your revised paper total (and don't forget to make the revisions!)
  • print this out and bring this to your writing lab conference and have the tutor sign here: ______________________________________
  • for more information, click here
    • Write on one of the following topics:
    1.  Source Material: Plato's Apology
    Prompt: Barry Bonds made the news recently with his conviction on the charge of obstruction of justice (the jury was hung over the charge of perjury). When he was indicted in 2007, Lance Williams, in a SF Chronicle article of that year,  noted that Bonds' lawyer might have been too "combative" and that his "confrontational style" might be a problem for Bonds (Williams, "Bonds' defense:" SFGate.com). Is this an issue for Socrates in his defense speeches as given by Plato in the Apology? In other words, using only the first two speeches in the Apology (pp 19-36, 36-38), examine whether Socrates' manner of defending himself, first against the charges (19-39), then with regard to what penalty he should suffer (36-38), contributed to his conviction and penalty of death.

    2. Source Material: Plato's Apology
    Prompt: Shortly after Barry Bonds was convicted on April 13, 2011 on the charge of obstruction of justice, Larry Munson, a sports writer for ESPN.com, noted: "It wasn't the testimony from a former girlfriend about sexual dysfunction. It wasn't the allegations of steroid use from his former business manager. And it wasn't the eyewitness account from a former personal shopper about an HGH injection. No, it was Barry Bonds himself who made the damaging statements that resulted in his conviction Wednesday for obstruction of justice" (Munson, "In the end, Barry Bonds hurt himself" ESPN.com). Paying very close attention to what Plato has Socrates actually say in his defense speech, argue whether Socrates did the same thing that Barry Bonds did, i.e. did his actual statements result in his convict on two of charges, namely that     "he does not believe in the gods of the state, and has other new divinities of his own"? If so, then detail how. If not, then explain how his statements relating these two charges are not "damaging statements."

    3. Source material: "Eratosthenes--An Adulterer's Luck Runs Out (c. 400B.C.)," pp 205-211, "In-Law Problems--A Poisonous Stepmother? (c. 420 B.C.)," pp 214-217; and "Diogeiton--A Grandfather Turns embezzler (c. 400 B.C.)," pp 217-223, all in Kebric's book.
    Prompt: Lysistrata is an example (to the extreme) of what one person can accomplish with 'personal' power as opposed to 'official' power (official power is power that is legally or officially yours). To what extent do all the women in two of the three cases listed above exhibit such 'personal' power? In your final paragraph comment on how the conclusions you have drawn earlier in your essay amplify and/or modify the typical depiction of Athenian women in the fifth and fourth centuries B. C.